26th Nov 2007 07:01
Vectura Group plc26 November 2007 Vectura receives €15 million milestone and equity investment from Boehringer Ingelheim Chippenham, UK - 26 November 2007: Vectura Group plc ("Vectura"; LSE: VEC) todayannounced that a significant milestone payment will be received from leadingpharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim, under the companies' worldwidecollaboration, development and licence agreement. Vectura will receive a cash milestone payment of €10 million (£7 million), whichfollows an initial €5 million (£3.5 million) in cash paid to Vectura in May2006. Boehringer Ingelheim will also invest €5 million (£3.5 million) inVectura through the purchase of 3.6 million new ordinary shares at a price of£0.96 per share. This follows Boehringer Ingelheim's purchase of 4.9 millionshares (€10 million) in May 2006, and brings its total holding to 8.5 millionshares or 2.7% of Vectura's issued share capital. Under the terms of the non-exclusive licence agreement signed in April 2006,Vectura is working with Boehringer Ingelheim on the continued development of amulti-dose, dry powder inhaler (DPI), one version of which may be sold as aBoehringer Ingelheim branded device for delivering a range of BoehringerIngelheim proprietary respiratory products, mainly for the treatment of asthmaand chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Additional milestones will be payable to Vectura for each product developed fordelivery with the device. Vectura will also receive royalties on global sales ofBoehringer Ingelheim products using the DPI device for pulmonary delivery. The majority of treatments for asthma and COPD are currently delivered byinhalation. Global markets for inhaled products are today valued in excess of$16 billion and are forecast to grow to over $32 billion by 2011. Dry powderinhalers are increasingly the first choice for patients with these diseases andit is expected that DPIs will be used to deliver the majority of the drugs soldin these markets by 2011. Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's leadingcompanies developing therapies to treat asthma and COPD. Dr Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive of Vectura, added: "This is a significant achievement for Vectura, which further endorses ourstrength in respiratory product development. Boehringer Ingelheim has a strongcommitment to respiratory medicine and a world-renowned development andmarketing infrastructure that has been proven with products like Spiriva(R).The non-exclusive nature of this agreement provides us with an excellentopportunity to deliver further value from our inhaled therapy technologies." - Ends - Enquiries: Vectura Group plc +44 (0)1249 667 600Dr Chris BlackwellAnne HylandJulia Wilson Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113David YatesSanjeev PandyaSusan Quigley Notes for Editors: About Vectura Vectura is a pulmonary product development company focused principally on thedevelopment of a range of inhaled therapies for the treatment of respiratory andneurological diseases. The respiratory market is forecast to achieve sales of$32 billion by 2011. Vectura develops products to treat respiratory diseasessuch asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis. Vectura also develops products whereoptimised delivery via the lungs into the blood stream can provide significantbenefits, such as a rapid onset of action, improved efficacy and improvedtolerability compared with current therapies. Vectura has eight marketed products and a portfolio of drugs in clinical andpre-clinical development, some of which have been licensed to majorpharmaceutical companies. The Company also seeks to develop certain programmesfurther through development to optimise value at a later licensing stage.Vectura also offers its formulation and inhalation technologies to otherpharmaceutical companies on a licensing basis where this complements Vectura'sbusiness strategy. Vectura has development collaborations with a broad range of pharmaceuticalcompanies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Chiesi. The acquisitionof Innovata in January 2007 brought established alliances with a number ofadditional companies, such as Baxter, GSK, Merck Generics (part of Mylan Inc),UCB and Otsuka as well providing revenue streams, complementary products andcritical mass. For further information, please visit Vectura's website at www.vectura.com About Boehringer Ingelheim For further information about Boehringer Ingelheim please accesswww.boehringer-ingelheim.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statement", including statementsabout the discovery, development and commercialisation of products. Variousrisks may cause Vectura's actual results to differ materially from thoseexpressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including adverseresults in clinical development programmes; failure to obtain patent protectionfor inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled bythird parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop andcommercialise products and services; difficulties or delays in obtainingregulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from developmentefforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research anddevelopment and to expand commercialisation activities; and product initiativesby competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors arecautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statement. We disclaim anyintention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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